This is the blog of China defense, where professional analysts and serious defense enthusiasts share findings on a rising military power.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Everybody was pirates fighting

Is me, or major Asian powers such as China, Japan and South Korea are milking the Somalia pirates issue for an opportunity to show off the flag and regional juxtaposition.

First, all three powers are sending task forces out in military missions first time since WWII to fight those "damn" pirates. (Here)(Here) and (Here). Now, China and Korea are using this pirates fight as a mean to surface some of the under-the-table military cooperations in response to the pending North Korea missile test and other regional security issues. As I noted eariler, South Korea is the first nation China asked to conduct joint amphibious operations with and that is a clear indication that they shared many security concerns (Here)

With that, sing with me now.....

Everybody was pirates fightingThose cats were fast as lightningIn fact it was a little bit frightningBut they fought with expert timing

http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200903/200903260021.htmlKorean, Chinese Military to Join Hands in Fighting PiratesKorean Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Kim Tae-young and China's Gen. Chen Bingde, chief of the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army, on Wednesday agreed to cooperate on fighting pirates in Somalian waters. It was the first time the two militaries decided to cooperate in international peacekeeping activities.

Kim and Chen met at the Ministry of Defense in Seoul on Wednesday afternoon. They spoke about their experience in fighting pirates and agreed to help each other in case of emergencies, a joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman said.

Seoul's call for 'a positive role and efforts by the Chinese military to help address inter-Korean tensions' was on the agenda, it said in a statement.

North Korea says it will launch a communications satellite between April 4-8.

South Korea, the United States and Japan have denounced what they see as a disguised long-range missile test. They say a launch for any purpose would breach a UN Security Council resolution passed after the North's missile and nuclear tests in 2006.

'We plan to relay to the Chinese delegation our demand that North Korea heed international warnings and halt its preparations for the launch,' an unidentified Seoul defence official told Yonhap news agency.

'China is the closest country to North Korea. Its comments carry weight, and we hope it can more actively pressure Pyongyang.'

China, a traditional ally and major aid donor for North Korea as well as a permanent UN Security Council member, has not publicly urged it to halt the launch.

The North Tuesday warned that six-party nuclear disarmament talks would collapse if new UN sanctions are imposed to punish the launch. The forum groups the United States, Japan, Russia, the two Koreas and China.

South Korea's chief envoy to the talks Wi Sung-Lac returned Wednesday from a meeting in Beijing with his Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei on possible 'counter-measures' after any launch. Mr Wi, quoted by Yonhap, indicated there is no agreement yet on a response. -- AFP